Co-op baseball dismantles Gilman, Loyal/Greenwood
By Nathaniel Underwood
The Abbotsford/Colby baseball team improved their regular season record to 17-7 with a pair of non-conference wins over Gilman and Loyal/Greenwood. The co-op also recently earned a three-seed and a first-round bye in the D2 WIAA playoffs.
Gilman, 13-3
Evan Reis hit a home run and a triple while pitching three innings of shutout ball, Blake Bargender added three hits of his own and the co-op defeated Gilman 13-3 in a non-conference game last Tuesday.
Eleven combined runs in the opening two innings for Abby/Colby gave the home team a comfortable lead that was never threatened over the course of the contest. The top of the lineup did much of the damage, with the first four spots in the order going a combined 9-for-13 with all five extra base hits, eight RBIs and 10 runs scored.
Back to back to back doubles from JV Castillo, Bargender and Payton Schreiber put the co-op up two runs after just three atbats. The co-op was then able to capitalize on defensive mistakes by their opponents, as Schreiber scored on the next ball in play on an error by the Pirates and Reis came home later in the inning on a pitch that escaped Gilman’s catcher.
With Bargender and Schreiber on base again in the second, Reis picked the perfect moment for his first home run of the season, launching a pitch to center field for a threerun bomb that gave his team an 8-0 lead. RBI singles by Castillo and Schreiber bookended the home run and by the time the Pirates managed to record the third out of the inning, the co-op had taken a commanding 11-0 advantage.
Abby/Colby added another run in the bottom of the third after Reis was able to come home on a ground out following his triple.
Gilman picked up a few runs in the next two innings, but the home team was able to plate Bargender in the bottom half of the fifth to end the game there and then.
Reis earned the win for his efforts on the mound. The senior took the Pirates’ bats out of the equation over his three innings of work, striking out three while not allowing a single hit or walk. Castillo came on to pitch an inning, giving up one run on two hits and striking out one while Nano Lopez closed out the game in the fifth, surrendering two runs on two hits and a walk. He also struck out one batter.
Loyal/Greenwood, 9-0
JV Castillo and Payton Schreiber homered as part of an eight-run first inning and Abby/
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Colby held the hosting Loyal/Greenwood squad scoreless over seven innings in a 9-0 win on Monday evening.
The two home runs bookended a monster first inning for the visiting co-op. Schreiber got Abby/Colby on the board by launching a two-run bomb in the co-op’s third at-bat of the contest, his fourth home run of the season. Then leadoff man Castillo connected for his first long ball of 2024, a three-run blast in his second plate appearance of the frame that gave the visitors an 8-0 advantage.
Carlos Lara also drove in a run on a oneout double and AJ Brodhagen and Preston Bunkelman hit back to back RBI singles in the first inning.
While the Abby/Colby bats cooled after their opening outburst, it was more than enough for the visiting team to pull out a comfortable win. The duo of Schreiber and Lara made quick work of the Loyal/Greenwood lineup on Monday. Schreiber earned his seventh win of the season after striking out five batters and holding the opposing offense scoreless in his four innings of work. The home team managed just one hit and a walk against Abby/Colby’s junior starter and did not find any more success against Lara, who came in to pitch in relief. Lara struck out two in three innings of work and only allowed two hits.
Bunkelman added an insurance run in the top of fifth by driving in Nano Lopez on another RBI single.
Castillo reached base three times in four plate appearances, scoring twice and collecting three RBIs on his home run. He also stole two bases. Bunkelman hit three singles and had two RBIs, Evan Reis went 2-for-3 and had two stolen bases.
